


it still beats the monotony

by superlyns



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 22:11:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6725518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superlyns/pseuds/superlyns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Congratulations Kim Sunggyu!</i> The text reads. <i>You've won the 1st prize in The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's 'Romantic Couple Adventure' contest: A week-long trip to Hawaii with your beloved Nam Woohyun! Please go to the following URL for more information on how to redeem your prize. We wish you a pleasant love-filled trip!</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	it still beats the monotony

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for infinite secret valentine 2016 and originally posted [here](http://ifntvalentine.livejournal.com/2378.html).

If Sunggyu could be granted one wish, he'd ask for one very simple thing:

Setting the record straight that, yes, he's been totally fine since the break up. No unhealthy coping mechanisms in sight.

Sunggyu's never had much luck when it came to wishes, so it's not like it really matters to think about this anyway. Besides, Sunggyu has much more important matters to attend, like scrolling endlessly through page after page of restaurant reviews on Naver blogs. He's on a mission to find the place that has the best pork and rice soup in Seoul, just like he'd been on a mission to find the place with the best authentic tacos earlier this morning. It's all very important business.

It's a good thing this is all happening when he's in-between jobs. Sunggyu doesn't dare to imagine how it'd be to have to go into work when he's in this state. The make-up noonas would probably kill him upon seeing the state of his skin, and while he'd do a terrific job singing sad moping songs, he'd be horrendous at the cheery ones.

So, really, this break up came at a perfect time, if that's something that can even be said about breaking up with your significant other after almost three years.

*

It happens on a Friday night in some random café in Sinsa. Dinner had been at the latest hyped up Italian restaurant in the area, sharing a pizza and a pasta dish, polishing off a bottle of red wine and Woohyun pulling out his wallet to pay the check.

Sunggyu's nursing a giant americano with an extra shot, leaning back in the comfy cushions of the couch.

"I think we should break up." 

Sunggyu doesn't even register that Woohyun is speaking at first because he says it in such a natural and detached manner. When he does, though, he has to set out his cup on the table between them and give Woohyun a pointed look, prompting him to say more. Is wine known to make people say stupid shit? Probably, right? This is what's happening. Woohyun's exhausted and wine's just making him say irrational stuff. 

"It's been a long time coming, I think."

Woohyun is staring at him and the weight of his gaze feels unsettling. It really shouldn't, they've been dating for three years now.

Sunggyu, fueled by caffeine and some kind of fucked up bravado, nods in agreement. "I agree, it's not been the same lately."

And it's— it's been exactly the same, is the thing. And maybe that's the problem. Maybe routine is what's breaking them up right now. 

Sunggyu doesn't mind routine though — he swears by it.

 

*

"I don't think I'm going to make it alive out of this," Sunggyu says that evening, sliding on a bar stool. They're at this craft beer place in Apgujeong that's kind of pretentious but holds the amazing benefit of being Sungyeol's place of work — which means: reduced priced on drinks, and sometimes free ones. Sunggyu's really hoping to score a free pint or two, considering his circumstances.

"This?" Dongwoo repeats.

"You know what I mean," Sunggyu whimpers, "don't make me say it."

"You'll feel better if you say the word, you know."

Sunggyu closes his eyes, folds his arms over the bar counter and rests his head on it. It's only 10pm. No one deserves to go through this so early in the night and so painfully sober.

"Will you buy me a drink if I say it?" Sunggyu mumbles against the countertop.

"I'll buy you a beer and a soju shot," Dongwoo agrees, "I just got paid today."

"Deal," Sunggyu agrees, slowly raising his head again and trying to appear a little more dignified.

*

"No, like, you've got to understand something." Sunggyu's been trying to make a point for the past ten minutes. Dongwoo's given up about two minutes in. "I don't hate him, I _can't_ hate him! And that's really the worst thing about this."

Sunggyu gulps down what remains of his beer, motions at Sungyeol to get him another one. He almost starts thinking about the tab he's got open right now, _almost_ winces a little at the thought of his poor credit card but then—

"I _can't_ hate him because our break up was perfectly amicable and we were both very civil and responsible about it and now he's prancing around with his stupid _blonde_ hair, clearly playing the post-breakup hair color change move, all happy and shit while I'm—"

Sunggyu balls up his fists, knocks one against the countertop but stops just as soon as he'd started when the pain starts to flare in his hand. 

"You really think he's doing fine?" Dongwoo asks in a cautious tone, speaking for the first time since Sunggyu started his never-ending tirade. He'd always had a penchant for rambling on and on about Woohyun, so that's not too surprising. Dongwoo's had time to learn to tune him out and still manage to nod and speak up in the right places.

Sunggyu looks offended by his suggestion. "Of course he's doing fine," he huffs, "I'm the one who got the wrong end of the stick here. That's how breakups are."

"You're being irrational and downright _stupid_ ," Dongwoo retorts. "If I buy you another shot, will you please stop talking about Woohyun? We should talk about something else, just to cheer you up and get your mind off him. It can't be healthy to be talking about it constantly." 

Sunggyu seems to be considering Dongwoo's offer. On one hand: free alcohol, _yes_ , but on the other… having to stop talking about Woohyun, _no_. 

Sunggyu chooses the alcohol, stops talking about Woohyun and wakes up with a terrible hangover the next morning. He's twenty-six and well past his prime when it comes to hangovers, apparently. This is tragic but at least Sunggyu doesn't have to work today.

Not having to work _also_ becomes tragic when Sunggyu realizes that his bank account is in a disastrous state because apparently, he'd dragged Dongwoo and Sungyeol, once his shift had been over, to not only one but two different clubs in Itaewon and he'd paid for everyone's covers _and_ drinks. Sunggyu's an amazing friend but he's also very much broke now. So much for being twenty-six.

It's two months until he starts up his next musical, so Sunggyu figures he probably ought to start getting used to eating nothing but plain rice, kimchi and ramyeon for every meal. No more going out and financing his friends' night out. No more overpriced Americanos, Sunggyu's going to have to get used to instant. He winces at the thought.

*

The text arrives when he's three weeks into his plain rice-kimchi-ramyeon diet and Sunggyu almost deletes it out of habit. He rarely gets text messages from anyone, KakaoTalk is king when it comes to communication these days and the only texts he receives are usually spam. But Sunggyu's bored and in dire need of entertainment so he opens it with curiosity.

 _Congratulations Kim Sunggyu!_ The text reads. _You've won the 1st prize in The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's 'Romantic Couple Adventure' contest: A week-long trip to Hawaii with your beloved Nam Woohyun! Please go to the following URL for more information on how to redeem your prize. We wish you a pleasant love-filled trip!_

Sunggyu clicks through to the website, finding himself on some island-themed web design monstrosity that doesn't say much about the logistics of the trip, instead focusing on describing the many, many ways the trip would be the perfect romantic adventure. There's a phone number on there though, that he needs to call to properly redeem the prize, so Sunggyu figures he should probably try that. And ask them if he _actually_ has to go on this trip with Woohyun.

The lady on the phone quickly becomes the person Sunggyu hates most in the entire world when she tells him that, yes, he has to go on that trip with Nam Woohyun since he's the companion he entered the name of when he signed up for the contest.

He stabs at the screen of his phone angrily, hanging up the call after she's made sure he had all the information necessary for the trip and that he understood that under no circumstances he could go on the trip on his own. The prize was a trip _for two,_ and could not be redeemed by one person only. When she'd announced that, Sunggyu had seriously wondered what kind of contest that was and if anyone with a law degree had checked the rules and made sure they were legal.

Sunggyu flips through to the calendar app on his phone, thumbing through the next couple of weeks so he gets to the trip's dates. Right before he's due to start his next musical. _Of course._ He drops his phone on the bed and stands up too fast, nervous energy simmering through his system, making his head spin. He feels woozy as he walks to his small kitchenette and fills the kettle with water, setting a bag of tea in a cup. He's grown so sick of instant coffee already, a true attack on his tastebuds after years of being used to coffee shop quality, that he's switched to tea a couple days back. Sunggyu supposes there's some irony in that contest being organized by one of the very same coffee shops he misses dearly.

Once he's calmed down a little — at least enough to hold his cup with steady hands — Sunggyu thinks about his options. He can only see two of them:

1) Tell Woohyun about the trip and somehow convince him to go on it;  
2) Do not tell Woohyun about the trip.

Sunggyu's not stupid. He's not about to say no to an all expenses covered trip to Hawaii, especially _not_ when he's at this point in life where every penny matters. Sure, he'd probably rather go on that trip on his own, it'd be a nice healing trip, he figures, to forget about the breakup and focus on himself and himself only for a couple of days. But there are sacrifices to be made if he wants to be able to add another stamp to his passport. The only traveling he's done has been limited to Japan. He'd done a semester of exchange there, and then, somehow, three musicals, since he'd apparently managed to impress the casting directors with his Japanese signing abilities.

Woohyun's done far more traveling that him, though. An entire summer backpacking through Europe the year after graduation, despite his parents urging him to go and get a job instead of frolicking about for three months thousands of miles away from home; and then business trips to the US, Canada, Singapore, and more, because he'd eventually gotten a job and it came with nice perks.

So, the point is: maybe Woohyun's not going to be as on board with this as Sunggyu is. Woohyun could probably book himself a trip to Hawaii right now if he wished, Sunggyu's fairly certain his bank account wouldn't even wince. _Heck_ , Woohyun might even _be_ in Hawaii right now, lounging around the palm trees with his new boyfriend or something.

Before he can talk himself out of it, Sunggyu takes a screenshot of the text message and sends it to Woohyun on KakaoTalk. He wishes he could say he's blocked and hid him from his contact list but that's not the case. He _did_ erase their conversation history — or maybe Dongwoo did, he's not so sure anymore, there were drinks involved that night, too — so that's at least something.

*

It takes two hours for Woohyun to reply.

_What???? [6:01PM]_

_Is this that stupid contest you entered as revenge for me taking you to The Coffee Bean instead of whatever indie coffee shop you wanted to go to? [6:02PM]_

_I can take time off work that week and you're not working at the moment, so. [6:10PM]_

And. What. What. Sunggyu leaves the messages unanswered because he needs time to process this. He forwards Woohyun the confirmation email he gets the next morning, complete with flight and hotel information, but he leaves it at that. He figures he just needs to stomach the eight-hour flight to Honolulu with Woohyun sitting next to him and the couple of hours they'll have to spend together in the hotel room, but that's it. He can just do his own thing during the day. Hell, the room's a goddamn suite, they might not even have to sleep in the same bed. Woohyun can take the sofa for all he cares.

*

It's only ten days before the departure date because, if anything, the redeeming terms and conditions for the prize are as weird as the contest's. In that time, Sunggyu tries his best to avoid any face-to-face conversation with Dongwoo, knowing all too well that he wouldn't be able to lie to his face and hide the trip from him. It's easy to do, at first, because Sunggyu's still very much broke and using it as an excuse to be a hermit, but then one evening the doorbell rings and when Sunggyu looks at the video intercom, he's faced with Dongwoo's nostrils and then, Dongwoo waving a pack of beer at the camera. Alright, then.

It takes Dongwoo approximately twelve minutes to figure out that something's up.

"You're way too calm about this." Dongwoo says as he sits cross-legged on the floor, watching Sunggyu peel off the label of his beer bottle. "How can you be?"

Sunggyu just shrugs, not looking away from his bottle.

"Are you alright? Did you get a concussion?" Dongwoo frowns at Sunggyu, wrapping a hand around the wrist that's still scratching at the bottle.

"What?" Sunggyu finally looks up at him. "I don't have a concussion, why are talking about?"

"You're going on a vacation with your ex. The one you spent hours crying and whining about just a couple days ago. I'm worried about you." Dongwoo's face softens, concern clearly visible on his face.

"I'm fine," Sunggyu retorts, "I don't see how that's a problem."

"You don't—" Dongwoo stops himself mid-sentence. "I'm _worried_ about you," he repeats.

"Well, you shouldn't," Sunggyu replies, cutting him short, "I'm going to be just fine, we'll barely see each other let alone speak all trip, really. It's going to be fine."

Dongwoo drops the matter, after that, because he knows how to recognize a lost battle with Sunggyu and this is one of those.

*

Woohyun waltzes in Incheon airport looking even _better_ than ever, of course he does. And, of course, he tries to negotiate a first class upgrade with the ground airline employees at the check-in counter, because apparently business class isn't enough. He doesn't manage to charm his way through an upgrade, though, and it's not like it really matters anyway because business class is practically empty when they get to the plane.

Sunggyu changes seats as soon as the flight attendants make an announcement over the PA that boarding's now completed and that they'll be on their way soon. He ignores Woohyun's kicked puppy look and burrows himself into his hoodie and blankets, ready to sleep through this entire flight. The blankets in business class are approximately a billion times better than the poor, sad, scratchy excuses for blankets they give in economy and Sunggyu intends to take full advantage of that.

Sunggyu manages to avoid having any thoughts about murdering Woohyun until they reach the hotel and check in to their room. The receptionist asks them, in accented Korean, if they're here for their honeymoon and Sunggyu doesn't have the time to elbow Woohyun in the ribs before the fucker replies cheekily that yes, they are. The receptionist then produces a bundle of pamphlets for honeymoon activities, slipping them across the counter with a smile and a voucher for a free couple's massage at the hotel spa. Sunggyu swipes them off the counter before Woohyun can get his hands on them. The room keycards follow suit and he's off towards the elevator in a few seconds, before the poor receptionist is even done with his last recommendations.

"You could have been nicer," Woohyun frowns at him while Sunggyu stabs the 15th floor button.

"I'm tired." Sunggyu says, in lieu of an explanation.

"I'm tired too, but this guy made the effort of doing his entire speech in Korean, you should have thanked him."

Sunggyu ignores him, storming out the elevator once they reach their floor. He certainly didn't come on this trip to get lectured by Woohyun and he's more than ready to crash into bed.

"You're getting the couch." Sunggyu announces as soon as he's unlocked the door. The suite's amazing, he'll have to admit that. Ocean view with a balcony, a living room that's as big as regular-sized hotel room, an even bigger bedroom and a bathroom with one of those fancy showers that take up a ton of space.

Surprisingly, Woohyun doesn't even protest. Not that Sunggyu was really in the mood for an argument but still, he'd have liked to prove that he was still amazing at winning their arguments and that some things just never change. But maybe they do change, and maybe Woohyun's matured a little, or at least enough to avoid getting into stupid arguments when they're both exhausted.

*

They do manage to avoid each other for the first half of the trip. Sunggyu climbs up Diamond Head, snorkels in Hanauma Bay, goes surfing for the first time — all on his own and enjoying every single second of it.

Of course, Sunggyu has a clear lapse of judgement on Wednesday night, having one too many Mai Tais at the hotel bar. In his defense, the sunset looked more beautiful why every glass he finished, and he was interested to see if there really was a correlation between the two. Or something. He's not really sure anymore. He comes back to the suite a little too tipsy and a little too daring, and that never bodes well. Woohyun's there already, settled down on the couch in front of the TV, watching the news, probably. Boring. Sunggyu's here to have A Serious Conversation with him and the TV needs to be off right this moment. Sunggyu miraculously locates the remote, and presses the power button, feeling triumphant.

"I wanna talk about us," Sunggyu announces, cutting Woohyun's whine about the TV.

"Okay," Woohyun replies. That's… more than Sunggyu expected him to reply, so he's a bit taken aback.

"O-kay," Sunggyu repeats, unsure of himself. "Do you still really think that we'd become boring and that it hadn't been the same, lately?" He finally manages to say, after he takes a few moments to collect his thoughts.

"I do." Woohyun admits. "It had been almost three years and I felt like we just weren't working out anymore. We were stuck in this... In this routine, I supposed, and I needed out of it."

Sunggyu sits down next to him on the couch.

"We could have worked it out, you know. Why didn't you ask me if I wanted to work it out?" It's more an accusation than a question, really.

"Because I figured you were a man of routine and you wouldn't want to." Woohyun winces. "I'm sorry for making that assumption."

"Yeah, you should be," Sunggyu says, snorting a little. Woohyun's staring at him with his stupid eyes and stupid face, looking all sad and definitely very sorry and Sunggyu kind of hates himself for even bringing this topic to the table. Maybe he should stop drinking, because that never goes well for him, clearly. Sunggyu clings to the last bit of his daringness, and presses a kiss to the corner of Woohyun's mouth, missing his target.

Woohyun moves so that they're kissing properly and the kiss feels like poison that's fifty percent tragic mistake and fifty percent terrible regret. Still, though, neither of them break it until Sunggyu needs some air and he audibly gasps, mumbling something about needing a glass of water. When he comes back to the living room, Woohyun's out like a light on the couch, and Sunggyu realizes that they'd actually been making out for almost an hour when he glances at his watch.

*

There's a tray of room-service breakfast waiting for him when he wakes up the next morning, complete with a note from Woohyun telling him that he's at the beach and that he's welcomed to join, if he wishes. Sunggyu presses his hands against his eyelids, as if to make last night disappear. Shit. He didn't have any expectations for this trip, didn't hope to get back with Woohyun or anything. He just wanted a nice, luxurious, free trip to Hawaii. Having to go with Woohyun was just a side affair, nothing serious. 

But now— now he's left with more weird feelings than before about their breakup. Leftover feelings about Woohyun that he'd been so good at repressing until now, until last night, when the Mai Tai had clearly betrayed him and made him pour his heart out at Woohyun and _kiss_ him.

He wolfes down what's on the tray and heads to the beach, easily finding Woohyun who's all decked out in bright fluorescent yellow swim trunks.

"Nice, real discreet," Sunggyu says, pointing at the offending trunks.

Woohyun just hums back, and that's about as much conversation they hold through the entire afternoon. Sunggyu doesn't really mind, though, because they fall into a comfortable silence and they manage to stomach each other's presence, which is already more than enough, all things considered. Also, Sunggyu wasn't really too keen on trying to justify himself for his actions last night so, really, it's all for the better that Woohyun doesn't mention anything.

*

The remainder of the week passes without any major incidents — they make casual conversation, almost _too_ casual, sometimes, they don't kiss, they don't talk about what's happening either. It all gets to be too much for Sunggyu, towards the end, because he feels it all hanging above his head, like some fragile glass ceiling that's going to crash down in pieces at some point.

Business class is empty again on the flight back to Seoul but this time Sunggyu doesn't switch seats and stays in the one next to Woohyun's instead. He does steal some of his fruit salad when he's not looking, though, just because.

The best solution when they get back to Seoul is _obviously_ to avoid Woohyun. Why would they even talk or meet, anyway. Sunggyu decides that whatever the hell happened in Hawaii is staying in Hawaii and that, for all intents and purposes, it was a fever dream induced by too much sun exposure.

*

Fate's clearly against Sunggyu on that one.

He's out in Itaewon one Friday night, finally _not_ broke and with his latest paycheck still fresh in his bank account, treating a good part of the musical crew to tacos and margaritas at Vatos. He's just getting up to pay their tab at the end of the meal, when he bumps into the person who's just leaving the cashier counter.

"Woops," they say, and Sunggyu would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Oh, hey," Woohyun says, "how are you doing?"

Sunggyu wasn't expecting any of this — bumping into Woohyun again, striking up a conversation with him when he doesn't even know where they stand with each other after Hawaii. 

"Good, good, finished off the first week of my new musical." Sunggyu replies, going for casual, cool and composed. "You should come see it." Sunggyu pauses, and then bites down on his lip. "If you want, of course."

"I'd love to." And the smile on Woohyun's face looks sincere and Sunggyu wants to wipe it away, maybe with a kiss. "Listen, are you busy? Would you wanna get a drink and talk?"

Sunggyu looks back to his table and his fellow cast members, half of them past the point of tipsy and ready to take this someplace else and the other half slumped over the table, ready for a cab home.

"I guess I'm free, yeah," Sunggyu agrees.

*

Woohyun takes him to some place with a ridiculous name (" _MowMow,_ really, now?") that, he insists, has a terrific makkeoli and pajeon selection. It doesn't take long for Sunggyu to figure out that Woohyun was right.

"So," Woohyun begins, sounding almost ominous in the way he places his chopsticks on the table and solemnly stares at Sunggyu, "I wanted to talk."

"Yeah?" Sunggyu chugs what's left of his drink to give himself some composure.

"We weren't bad, together. I mean, we weren't terrible, even at the end. We just got stuck in a routine, I think, and we got too comfortable and I think I got scared that one day I'd wake up and be bored of our relationship. So that's why I broke up. But we were good together, most of the time and even great, sometimes, you know."

Sunggyu takes a bite of pajeon, chewing as slowly as he can while simultaneously trying to process what Woohyun just said.

"What do you think?" Woohyun asks softly after the silence has stretched out between them.

"I think you might be right." Sunggyu replies. "We were good together, we shouldn't have given up so fast."

"Maybe we could try again," Woohyun offers, "like a trial run, or one last chance at our relationship. Would you be okay with that?"

Sunggyu nods, almost cautiously. "Yeah, I'd be okay with that." This feels like a set-up for more heartbreak to Sunggyu, really, but he still fucking signs up for it because he's still got it bad for Nam Woohyun.

"Great," Woohyun concludes, and the tense atmosphere in the room is suddenly lifted away when Woohyun's face is split with a wide grin and Sunggyu can't help but smile with him. He doesn't even complain when Woohyun feeds him with his chopsticks, even wiping the corner of his mouth after that.

Yeah, maybe they were good together, and maybe this is worth putting some more effort into.

*

One thing that doesn't change though, is how insufferable Woohyun is when grocery shopping and how much Sunggyu dreads each trip to the store, dragging his feet the entire time they're there. Sunggyu really thinks that it's unnecessary to spend almost an hour in the store just picking up their usual grocery list, and by the time they reach the registers, he's properly cranky.

"Do you wanna enter a contest to win a trip to Boracay?" The cashier asks after Woohyun's swiped his credit card. Sunggyu's hands still on the egg carton he was putting away in a bag.

Woohyun glances at him, the hint of a smile starting to play on his lips.

"Yeah," Woohyun says, "why not."

"Who knows, we might need to patch up our relationship once again," Sunggyu adds, smiling back to Woohyun.


End file.
